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Bio

Born in 1960 in Horsham in North West Victoria, Australia, Anthony Pelchen studied Economics at Monash University and a decade later painting at the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 1991. Throughout the 1990's he lived in Melbourne and exhibited widely in artist-run, institutional and alternative spaces, including 200 Gertrude Street, RMIT's Project Space and St Stephan's Anglican Church. He has exhibited three times in Japan and in 2005 and 2007 undertook residencies in Nou Machi, Nigata prefecture, conducting over 30 drawing/painting workshops. In 2003, he began a biennial use of the Natimuk Lutheran Church as an installation space and in 2007 led a collaborative installation involving 222 children in Nou machi and the Wimmera. In 2006/2007 he returned to painting and drawing, resulting in cycles of work in the Wimmera (231 paintings) and Japan. IN 2008 he participated in Drought-Cross Cultural Collaborations, curated by Lella Caridi and presented at Federation Square, ACMI and the NGV (installations and collaborations for film, performance and an Artist's Book).
In 2009 he has been invited to participate in Palimpsest 07, Mildura (with Lauren Berkowitz, Domenico De Clario and Elizabeth Preza).
Common to all work is an overriding interest in the fine lines and shifts between physical and psychological states and how a dominance of one inevitably points to the absence and potential of another. This has involved work across various media - painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and installation - all incorporating elements of repetition, austerity and subtle shifts within a finite structure.
A considerable aspect of his practice has been works on paper, both in drawing and the use of cutting and weaving, extending his interest in the power of austere, textured surfaces to evoke notions of the body and landscape. This work has appeared in numerous national surveys of works on paper over the last ten years.
Since 1988, he has been involved in collaborative projects with Melbourne-based Butoh performers Yumi Umiumare and Tony Yap in gallery, church and landscape environments. These include 3492 poly bags and a ploughed path, a two square kilometre land installation at the base of Mt Arapiles in the Wimmera, 5 at Mass Gallery, Melbourne and Inori-in-visible in Japan and Copenhagen. In 2001 he was nominated for a Green Room Award for Design for Dance and between 1999 and 2007, jointly conducted 5 Butoh/drawing workshops at his base on te Wimmera River, west of Horsham.
In 1999 he was artist in residence at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces in Melbourne and was granted Bundanon Trust residencies in 2001 and 2003 and a Parks Victoria Residency in 2002.
His work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Print Workshop, Artbank and the John McBride Collection, as well as private collections in Australia, New Zealand, England and Japan.

Website: www.anthonypelchen.com

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Education

1989-91 - Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1979-81 - Bachelor of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne

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Solo Exhibitions

2009
planned: Difficult Majesty, Palimpsest 07, Mildura

2006
231 Paintings, Goat Gallery, Natimuk

2005
Church and Landscape (twelve times towards the cross), Natimuk Lutheran Church, Wimmera

2003
Looking forwards/walking backwards, Natimuk Lutheran Church, Wimmera
Looking forwards/walking backwards, Gallery Chayamachi, Osaka

2001
3,492 poly bags and a ploughed path, Wimmera land installation

1999
14,171 days (God knows how many breaths), St Stephen's Anglican Church, Richmond
Cover me in mud, bury me in wheat (throw me in the river), Temple Studios, Melbourne
Vectis, talk artists initiative, Melbourne

1997
Looking with mouth open, singing with eyes closed, The Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne
Cover me in mud, bury me in wheat (throw me in the river), Temple Studios, Melbourne

1996
Slide Installation, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne / Canberra School of Art
Vectis, Studio 12 at 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne

1995
I Lay Me Down, Studio 12 at 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne

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Group Exhibitions (selected)

2008
Drought - Cross Cultural Collaborations, Federation Square / ACMI / NGV - installation/artists book/film